Becoming a Fruitful People of God

By Yunus Ciptawilangga MBA

Yunus Ciptawilangga wholeheartedly choose to become a follower of Christ in 2000, after twenty years learned the five religions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism and Christianity.


In 2006 he began to explore the material of the end times. With two other writers, namely Rev. Jopie Rattu, Ph.D., and Mr. Sridadi Atiyanto, Ph.D. managed to write two books of the end times with the title “The Rapture, the Fulfillment of: the Signs in the Sky, the Festivals in Summer, and the Parable of the End Times” part 1 and part 2 and published by Elm Hill HarperCollins.

He also wrote thirty thin books derived from the material of his sermon which was then made into four books consisting of a combination of seven to eight thin books. The four books each take one of the book titles as the combined title of the book. The first book is entitled Human Life Priority, the second book The Blessed Christian Family, the fourth book Faith and Deeds which were also published by Elm Hill HarperCollins. Becoming a Fruitful People of God is his third book which consists of seven books, where other books are: The Fruit of the Spirit, Victorious People, Be Converted and Become as Little Children, Our Speech, Joy and Main Duties of a Servant of God.

Some of the topics may be complex, but the author uses simple language and examples to promote learning and understanding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664220553

Yunus Ciptawilangga MBA

Yunus Ciptawilangga, MBA. Education: 1984 – Bachelor of English Language 1993 – Master of Business Administration Profession: Restaurant and information technology entrepreneur

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Yunus Ciptawilangga, MBA.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2056-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2055-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021901108

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/02/2021

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Children of God Should Bear Fruit

The Fruit of the Spirit

Victorious People

Be Converted and Become as Little Children

Our Speech

Joy

Main Duties of a Servant of God

About the Author

PREFACE

This material was delayed for some time before I finally decided to publish it through the website and have it printed. Why was it delayed? Was it because I was not convinced about the contents or had not yet gained a complete understanding of the topic? No. I was fortunate to be given the understanding within but a short time. So why the delay? Since, at the time, I got a clear understanding of the topic, I realized I still had many shortcomings about the subject. I had struggled about this issue until finally, I decided to finish it. It was of utmost importance to become a fruitful child of God. I hope this book will not only become a blessing to my readers but can also motivate me to live it.

Finally, all praise to the Almighty and merciful God, who, through His grace, grants all of us the opportunity to be able to understand this most important topic: how we can become God’s fruitful people, so that we, as children of God, will not be cut off and thrown into the fire of hell.

Soli Deo Gloria

INTRODUCTION

I do not know how you become a Christian. I have been attending Sunday school since childhood and was baptized when I was a teen. But in 1980, when I lectured in my first year, I got a course called Comparative Study of Religions, the subject that made me realize that religion is not only Christian—there are four other major religions (aside from several others). Since then I learned about the five major religions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholocism and Christianity.In the year 2000, I wholeheartedly chose to become a follower of Christ after understanding and believing that salvation only exists in and through Jesus Christ. During the twenty years of learning these five religions, I did not leave Christianity but refused to be active and take ecclesiastical ministry. During this period, at least twice, I was offered to run for the position of deacon, but I was only willing to be a guest greeter twice in one year. At that time I was not sure that I would still be a Christian. I did not want to cause a stir when I would later move to become a follower of another religion.

After fully becoming a follower of Christ, I was and am serious enough to study and practice my beliefs. I meticulously read the Bible, pray regularly every midnight, and try to follow God’s Word. I am also quite diligent in listening to recorded sermons from many servants of God.

In late 2006, when in a meeting with other professionals, I said that a time would come when everyone would have a chip planted in his or her hand or forehead. My IT manager said that it had been done in several countries. I was quite surprised, and after studying the data presented by the manager, I explore the materials about the end times.

In 2009, I found strong evidence that we were in the last days, so in 2010, I sold most of my business and began to study end times more seriously and to engage in service. Praise God. Since 2013, two other writers (Rev. Jopie Rattu PhD, and Mr. Sridadi Atiyanto PhD) and I managed to write six books about the end times that were later merged into two books with the titles The Rapture, the Fulfillment of the Signs in the Sky, the Festivals in Summer, and the Parable of the End Times Part 1 and Part 2, published under HarperCollins Christian Publishing.

In addition to writing end times books, I have written almost thirty thin books derived from the materials of my sermons, which were then made into four books consisting of a combination of seven to eight thin books.

Each of the four books take one of the book titles as the combined title of the book.

The first book is Human Life Priority, which consists of eight books: The Value of Salvation, The Rights and Responsibilities of God’s Children, The Foundations of Christianity, The Characteristics of Children of God, Four Types of Christians, Jesus versus Mammon, and The Great Commission.

The second book is The Blessed Christian Family, which consists of seven books: Family Worship, The Major Ministry, Blessing, Our Attitude in the House of God, Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth, and To Be Children of God or Servants of God.

The third book is Becoming a Fruitful People of God, which consists of The Fruit of the Spirit, Victorious People, Be Converted and Become as Little Children, Our Speech, Joy, and Main Duties of a Servant of God.

The fourth book is Faith and Deeds, which consists of eight books: Five Foolish Virgins and Wise Ones, God’s Promise to Provide, Heaviest Temptations, A People Prepared for the Lord, To Do the Will of the Father, Loving God, and Give Glory unto the Lord.

Most readers like these books because they are thin, so they can be read on a trip or while they are waiting in line because they are generally finished in twenty to thirty minutes. Other than that, the books are easy to understand because they are simply explained with examples and written in simple language. Even so, each topic was discussed with sufficient depth accompanied by supporting verses and testimony in some books, so these books not only contain theological explanations about a topic but a testimony of my family’s and my experience on the topic.

These books are also in demand among pastors and servants of God because these books come from sermon materials, so they can deliver the contents of the book in the form of sermons.

Praise God the Lord, although I have never been to theological school, I was given an understanding of these topics according to the Word of God recorded at Matthew 7:7: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

In fact, every child of God can not only understand God’s words, we can know about God our Father through the deep things, as written in 1 Corinthians 2:10: These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

In closing, I would like to say a big thank to a senior pastor who does not want to be named but who helped correct and give input to almost all books that I wrote.

CHILDREN OF GOD

SHOULD BEAR FRUIT

The concept of fruit bearing in the New Testament is very important to be comprehended by Christ’s followers. The purpose is to make clear the spiritual life of the believers as written in the Gospel of John 15:2, which states, "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." (emphasis added).

The Lord Jesus said that every branch that bears no fruit will be cut off and thrown away. It means that to bear fruit is obligatory for every child of God. And here, to bear fruit means to bear the fruit of the Spirit, which in Galatians 5:22–23 is described as: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (emphasis added).

ADMONITION TO BEAR FRUIT

In Philippians 2:12–13, apostle Paul said, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." (emphasis added).

Verse 13 explains that to bear fruit is part of God’s plan. God will work on it so that we will be able to bear fruit. However, in verse 12, there is also some part in His plan for us to do—to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. To work out our salvation does not mean we do something in order to be saved. No! At the time we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we already have the salvation; all we ought to do is to hold that salvation. For those who will be saved are those who earnestly contend for their faith to the end. So here the emphasis is on how we defend our faith until the end of our lives. And this needs to be done seriously, with fear and trembling.

THREE BASIC PRINCIPLES TO BEAR FRUIT

1. Be Sure We are God’s Children

John 15:4 says, "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (emphasis added).

Thus, the part which can bear fruit is the branch that remains in the vine; and that branch is us—we as children of God. Those who are not God’s children can never bear fruit. Even we—when separated from the vine or renounce our belief in the Lord Jesus—will find it impossible to bear fruit. Therefore, we